


In Defense of Cisco Ramon

by st4rlabsforever (omaken)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Multi, OT3 if you squint, in defense of Cisco Ramon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 22:04:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6347383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omaken/pseuds/st4rlabsforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Cisco learns that his friends can be quite vicious when it comes to bullies and asshole vigilantes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Defense of Cisco Ramon

"No way, Quickshot wants your help? That's awesome!"

Barry nodded.

Cisco was admittedly a little star struck. Quickshot was Coast City's newest superhero, a sharpshooter renowned as much for his aim as he was notorious for his womanizing. He was similar to Oliver in that regard, Cisco thought, though he had apparently made it his personal motto to avoid killing whenever possible.

It wasn't necessarily anything in particular to do with Quickshot, but Cisco found himself inspired by the heroes that seemed to pop up every week now. He was still getting over the fact that he was friends with the Green Arrow and Black Canary, and the only reason he didn't geek out more over working with the Flash was because he got to see him every single day (which didn't do much to diminish his sense of wonder at seeing Barry's powers in action, if he was being honest).

"So when are you going?"

Cisco tried to hide his excitement, but he knew he probably wasn't doing a very good job as he bounced on the balls of his feet. And besides, this was _Barry_ , who spent his Fridays at Cisco's (metahumans and criminals permitting) getting way too worked up over Star Trek marathons and discussing the pros and cons of a Firefly sequel.

"Not me, us. You wanted more field experience, so I told him I was bringing you along. Harry, too. I felt sorta bad that he was just gonna be moping around the lab again this weekend," Barry said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wait, what? This is the big leagues, dude, there's no way I'm gonna be useful or even able to keep up with you guys."

If his tone was a little frantic, it was because there was no way this scenario wouldn't end with him completely embarrassing himself. Jumping into the lion's den with Hartley at STAR Labs had been easy, exciting even, because he knew if he worked hard enough, he could make a name for himself and rise up the ranks. Science was his forte for as long as he could remember, but this — the whole superhero thing — was entirely new to him and he felt like a fish floundering out of the water.

It had taken him weeks to work up the courage to ask Barry to train with him even though he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about – Barry had been nagging him and conspicuously hinting that having a partner out in the field would be awesome, doubly so because ‘it’s _you_ , Cisco.’

(“Look at me, I’m flabby. No one’s gonna want to be saved by a guy with goggles and a gut.” He gave his stomach a pat to demonstrate.

Damn. He really needed to cut down on the junk food and maybe start working out...probably not, though.

“So, who cares?” Barry had waved him off. “If they’re ungrateful, it says more about them then it does about you.”

“Easy for you to say. Lightning gave you _abs_ , dude.”

He had threaded his fingers morosely through the fabric of the makeshift top he’d designed for himself. Nothing too fancy, just enough to provide more protection than his graphic tees ever would.

Cisco had sighed. “Alright, I guess training together couldn’t hurt…”

Barry’s face had lit up like a Christmas tree, his eagerness written plainly on his face just as it had from the moment Cisco had met him.)

"Sure you can," Barry said easily. "The vibing's been super useful in fights, and the sonic blasts are pretty cool too."

The look Barry was giving him was one of pure earnestness. If someone could bottle that sincerity and devotion, Cisco was pretty sure that mountains could be moved.

And that was part of the problem. Barry's default setting was to believe and believe and believe in his friends and then, even when they betrayed him — Cisco cringed internally when he remembered the cold gun and revealing the Flash's identity to Snart — continue to believe in them some more.

He looked at Cisco like he couldn't possibly comprehend why the lab tech-turned-metahuman thought this team up could be a bad idea. That sort of blind faith was flattering, it really was, but one day soon, he was just going to end up letting Barry down, and then Cisco would feel even worse about himself.

As it was now, Barry had probably already run his mouth at a million miles an hour to Quickshot because he could never resist going on and on about how great and talented his friends at STAR Labs were (a fact that Cisco hadn't known about until Iris had asked him out on a friend date recently and casually let slip that not even a week after waking up in STAR's med bay, Barry had spent an entire dinner rambling on about how cool Caitlin and Cisco and the late Dr. Wells were).

And that made something clench in his heart, but when he inevitably ended up falling short of the no-doubt Herculean expectations Quickshot now had of him, Barry was just going to be disappointed to realize that his friend wasn't the perfect person he had thought he was.

"I heard he's actually kind of a jerk in person. Maybe this isn't such a great idea," Cisco tried one last time.

"They said that about Oliver, too, and he's not bad," Barry pointed out. "Seriously, why're you so nervous dude?"

Cisco sighed. "Fine. Let's do this thing. Just don't be too disappointed when I fuck up."

Barry didn't respond, just continued to give him an odd look.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Barry had picked him up extra early and brought him to the lab. It was obvious that he'd been itching to meet Quickshot for a while now, judging by how quickly his words slurred together and the minute vibrations his body intermittently gave off.

"Ready?"

Harry emerged out of his workroom, bag slung over his shoulder and hair tousled in that just-dove-into-a-tornado way.

Cisco wondered how Harry managed to look so indifferent about everything, but then Barry was moving in to pick him up.

“So how’re we doing this then?”

Barry shrugged. “I’ll drop you off first then come back for Harry?”

Harry only fixed him with a supremely impassive look. Evidently, he wasn’t a morning person. That, or he was still a little shell-shocked from Jesse leaving, Cisco wasn’t entirely sure.

The wind suddenly picked up and rushed around him, and they were off.

Now that he thought about it, this was the first long distance trip he’d taken carried by Barry. The few times they had gone to Star City, it seemed like too much work for the speedster to carry all of them and, well, they really didn’t have many excuses to leave Central City, not when metahumans and supervillains were liable to strike on any given day of the week.

He had rigged Barry’s comms so that they could communicate even when he was running at super speed. It still fascinated Cisco to no end that Barry processed speech at normal speeds while the rest of his body operated several thousands of times faster. When he’d told him so, Barry had just given him a bright smile that made Cisco’s knees go weak.

“Hey, Barry?”

“Yo, what’s up?”

The ride had been fairly peaceful so far, the wind having settled down for some inexplicable reason. He had expected it to be a bit more jarring, what with Barry’s arms and legs needing to move so rapidly to maintain speed, but it just felt like being picked up and carried at a walking pace.

He’d had plenty of time to let his thoughts wander in the past few minutes.

“I was just thinking, your body is perfectly suited to function at high speeds after the accelerator explosion, but for the rest of us normal humans…at the speed you’re going now, the pressure differential inside and outside my lungs should technically be way too high for me to be able to breathe…”

And suddenly, they were tumbling. The only reason Cisco knew that was because the soothing blur of lines around them transformed into a jagged mess of curves and pebbles and twigs. When they finally rolled to a stop, Cisco was acutely aware of the warm body wrapped tightly around him, Barry’s arms shielding his face and his legs wound tightly around Cisco’s.

Barry stood with a wince, dusting himself off and reaching down to help Cisco up. To say he looked concerned would be an understatement.

“You okay?” Barry asked.

“Yeah, not a scratch on me.” He wasn’t sure of the science behind that one, but a win was a win. “What the hell just happened?”

“ _Oh,_ yeah,” he said, straightening his back at whip fast speed.

“You…I – you’re saying I could’ve killed you?” he sputtered.

“I mean, I’m clearly not dead,” Cisco gestured at himself. “But the theory behind it _is_ sound…”

“ _Oh my god_ …” Barry said in a daze. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?!”

 **“** When was I supposed to do that? Usually, your rides last a few seconds. This was the first time I actually had time to think about it, dude.”

Barry just stared back at him with wide, panicked eyes.

“Seriously, dude, it’s fine. Let’s just get going.”

“Are you _out of your mind_?” Barry snapped. “We’re not going anywhere if you’ll be dead when we get there.”

He sat down stubbornly on the pavement.

Cisco had to roll his eyes. Barry had been flashing them all around Central City for two years now and they were all still breathing, so either they were the luckiest motherfuckers in the multiverse, or there was a much simpler explanation.

“Did you ever think it might be a Speed Force thing?” He swept his hand quickly from right to left and let out a whoosh, as if to indicate the speed trails that Barry usually left in his wake. At the unamused look he got in return, he continued, “No really, you can run thousands of miles per hour. Don’t you think it’s possible that whatever you do when you’re running also shields us mortals from any side effects?”

Judging by the expression on Barry’s face, he wasn’t buying that _at all_.

“Come on, Bar, I trust you. We’re only 50 miles away, and we’re in the middle of nowhere right now. Plus, you still have to get Harry.”

Barry let out a deep exhale. “Fine, but we’re going slow. And as soon as we’re back home, we’re having Caitlin run tests to be sure.”

“Deal.”

It took them the better part of a half hour to make it to Coast City, mostly because Barry insisted on stopping every few miles to make sure Cisco’s lungs were functioning properly.

Then he dashed off to get Harry and was back a few minutes later, an enormous gust of wind blasting Cisco in the face as Harry was set down in front of him.

And Cisco noticed that the ride must’ve been rough because Harry’s hair looked like someone had taken a leaf blower to it, and – _oh great_ , he was keeling over and vomiting.

“Jesus, Allen, are you drunk?” He was on all fours, wiping the spittle from his mouth as he dry heaved again.

“It wasn’t _that_ bad…” Barry said sheepishly.

Harry picked himself off the pavement, grumbling something about playing favorites.

 

* * *

 

 

As it turned out, Quickshot was a complete and utter asshole, and it began with their very first meeting.

“Flash! Glad you could make it.”

“It’s Barry, actually,” he said, shaking his hand and clapping him on the back and pulling back the cowl.

They would have _way_ fewer problems if Barry didn’t feel the need to reveal his identity to everyone under the sun, Cisco thought. First there had been Eddie, then Linda and Kendra and –  okay wait, that one had totally been his fault, so maybe he wasn’t thinking this through properly.

“Troy,” the other man reciprocated.

And wow, Cisco wasn’t sure what to think about the fact that all of the men in his life were insanely attractive. And then he wanted to scream, because there was no way he had a shot in hell with a single one of them.

“And what’s this?” Troy said when he noticed Cisco and Harry.

“Oh yeah, that’s Harry. Works in our lab. And this is Cisco, codename: Vibe. He’s a metahuman like me. Helps me fight crime sometimes, etc. etc.”

Barry rambled on like he was a kid presenting a science project that he was especially proud of and Cisco felt his cheeks begin to burn.

Troy snorted, then raised his eyebrow when no one responded. “Wait, you’re serious? How tall are you, like 5’4”?”

Cisco bristled. “5’7” actually.”

“Whatever you say, _Vibe_.”

He wasn’t sure how Troy had managed to imbue so much condescension in his tone, but Cisco was sure he could give Harry a run for his money.

“Look, thanks for your help, but the grown-ups can take it from here.”

“Hey, what’s your problem?” Barry looked like he’d been slapped. Like the teacher had just told him said science project had received an F minus.

Harry just surveyed the scene in front of him with rapt attention.

“No problem, I just don’t think he’s going to be much help. Besides, me and you can handle it just fine, right?” Troy said breezily.

“You haven’t even seen what he can do yet. And we’re a team, so if he’s out, then so am I.”

Cisco blinked. That was the tone Barry used to talk down bank robbers and rogue metas.

 _We’re a team_.

He felt something warm settle in his chest. As embarrassing as it was to have Barry play the noble white knight to his damsel in distress, there was undeniably something exhilarating about the developing team-up he had going with him – with _the Flash_. Never in a million years would his nerdy, eighteen-year-old self have seen this coming.

“So, what? You’re saying this runt is worth something?”

Barry took a deep breath. “You know what, I’m outta here. Let’s go, guys-“

“Wait, Barry.”

He paused halfway through reaching for Cisco, no doubt about to zip them away at breakneck speed.

“Look, I get Quickshot turned out to be a real prick, but you can’t just walk away. There’re innocent people in Coast City who are gonna get hurt if you don’t put a stop to whoever’s terrorizing this place, so don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine.”

Barry deflated. The look on his face said it all: he knew Cisco was right and he absolutely hated it.

“I’m sorry,” he said, refusing to make eye contact. “You were right, it was a dumb idea to come here.”

“Trust me, this is nothing. I’ve kind of been dealing with bullies my whole life, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“So’ve I,” Barry mumbled.

“Not like this, you haven’t.” And besides, since becoming the Flash, Barry’s admirers outnumbered his haters by about 1000 to 1, but this wasn’t a pissing contest, so Cisco didn’t voice that particular thought.

“Anyway, let’s just finish this up quick and get back to STAR Labs, ‘kay?”

Barry gave him a soft smile and nodded.

 

* * *

 

 

It turned out that the rogue villain causing the explosions was a meta.

Cisco and Harry had hung back and worked the comms while the two vigilantes headed downtown. And not that Cisco was judging or anything, but he didn’t see how Quickshot could’ve possibly handled this by himself. At least with Oliver, there was strategy and planning involved. From where he was sitting, Troy had Barry to thank for not becoming a permanent stain on Coast City’s pavement.

Barry wiped the floor easily with the meta (who Cisco didn’t feel like naming, just wanted to put this whole day behind him), which didn’t surprise Cisco at all. Listening to Quickshot ramble over the comms though, he’d have thought it was Barry who needed the rescuing. Cisco figured there must have been some extreme privilege in the shooter’s childhood for him to act like…well, like a complete douche.

Of course, the worst part was having to listen to Troy go on and on to Barry about how he could do so much better than Cisco for a sidekick.

He knew Harry was staring at him dispassionately, probably waiting to see if he was going to blow.

He wasn’t, though. Because when even the nerds bullied him in high school, you had to develop thick skin and really, this wasn’t phasing him at all.

Barry’s heart rate and blood pressure were through the roof, though.

“Everything okay?” Cisco asked at the same time Harry said “Breathe, Allen. Deep breaths.”

“It’s not worth it,” Harry continued.

That seemed to have some effect, because his readings were settling back down to normal (or rather, as normal as a 120 bpm resting heart rate could be).

 

* * *

 

 

When they returned from their mission, Cisco had been all but ready to book it out of Coast City until Harry had pulled Barry aside.

“A word, Allen? Privately?”

“Uh, guys…?” Cisco questioned.

But Barry had nodded and walked off to the side, and when he returned, there was a determined look in his eye that had Cisco groaning.

“C’mon, just leave it, Bar. Who cares?” he begged. He knew he would have a better chance of sprouting wings and learning to fly than getting Barry to back down – he’d always been the most stubborn of them all.

When he was right up in Troy’s space, he said “How about we spar before I leave? Just me and you.”

And there was no mistaking Barry’s tone: this was a challenge.

Troy chuckled. “You sure you’re up to it?”

Barry’s fists clenched and Cisco noticed that vein on his forehead popping again. It had only happened one other time when Snart had double-crossed them.

 

* * *

 

 

“Rules: one on one, no holds barred, no killing.” Harry spit the last part out with distaste. That right there was why Cisco kept one eye open at all times when Wells was around. He trusted the guy, sure – the last few months had proven to them all that despite his...trying personality, Harry was reliable and just trying to do the right thing. But he was also ‘moral grey area’ personified, and Cisco wasn’t convinced that he actually understood just how fleeting life was unless it pertained to Jesse.

“You’re each allowed one person on audio backup, if you prefer,” Harry drawled.

Quickshot smirked. “I’m more of a solo act.”

“Yeah, well I’m not.” Barry crossed his arms, refusing to rise to the bait.

“Alright, I got your back, man,” Cisco said, already heading over to the monitors and headsets.

“Actually,” Barry cut him off, “I thought maybe Harry could do comms for me this time, if you don’t mind?”

“Huh? Why?”

Did he hear that correctly? He wasn’t aware the two of them even talked outside of missions.

Barry placed both his hands on Cisco’s shoulders. “Hey, you’re always doing backup for me. You get to hang back and watch the show this time.”

Cisco was admittedly a little stung --- it was always him in Barry’s ear ( _I’m the eyes and ears, he’s the feet._ ).

Had he done something wrong?

He didn’t have time to think about it further, though, because Barry was already suited up and itching to go and Harry had already slid behind the makeshift workstation that Quickshot had provided them with.

Ordinarily, Cisco wouldn’t be concerned since Harry was just as good at manning the comms, if a little less loose with the banter, but the bloodthirsty grin he shot Barry was terrifying.

And Barry’s mirroring smirk? Even more so. Barry wasn’t a violent person on principle and it generally took a lot to get him riled up enough to come to blows. Even after Trajectory had nearly destroyed that bridge with hundreds of civilians on it, he had tried to talk her down rather than fight. So the sharp grin on his face now was disconcerting, to say the least.

Cisco waved his referee flag down and in the next moment, Quickshot cocked his gun and shot and Barry lunged forward.

When Cisco blinked, he found himself on the sidelines and standing next to Harry, hair billowing in his face.

“Um? Should I be concerned?” he asked hesitantly.

“Don’t worry about it, Ramon,” Harry said without even looking in Cisco’s direction. Then, into the comms, “Focus, Allen. Wear him down first, then strike while he’s distracted.”

Barry danced around Troy, easily evading his punches and the occasional bullet sent his way. It was fairly obvious right from the start that Barry outclassed the sharpshooter in almost every possible way. Generally, the speedster made up for his lack of refined technique by landing blows rapidly enough that his opponent was overwhelmed. He also had a tendency to run around like a headless chicken as he dodged enemy fire instead of engaging in far simpler maneuvers that would have served just as well. This right now, though, seemed calculated, and Cisco had a sneaking suspicion that Harry had played a not-insignificant role in Barry’s current strategy.

He artfully dodged a right hook and used the opportunity to land a sharp jab to Troy’s now exposed side.

“Aim for the brachial plexus when you can. That should get a reaction.” Harry was focused intently on the monitor readings in front of him, hardly even aware that Cisco was staring over his shoulder.

“Got it,” Barry breathed back.

When Cisco looked up, Barry easily drifted behind Quickshot, sliding a finger under his arm and prodding rapidly. A giggle was ripped out of Quickshot’s mouth, followed by a squeal.

Harry snorted under his breath and Barry smirked that cocky smirk he always gave Cisco when he trounced him in Street Fighter, only this time, it seemed less playful gloating and more ‘I’m just messing with you and you’re about to go down _hard_ ’ serious. The few times Cisco had sparred with him for practice, Barry had shown a surprising level of patience, no trace of any smugness as he walked Cisco through a move for the tenth time. So, this was weird.

“What the hell is this?” Troy shouted, red-faced and growing agitated that his fists kept meeting empty air.

“Just getting started.” Barry cracked his neck before dashing back into the fray.

They had gone back and forth for a few minutes, Barry sometimes darting in to land a solid hit, other times for a sharp jab or poke that had Troy well off-balance, when it was became clear to Cisco that the latter was beginning tire. He was well-attuned to Barry’s usual fighting style, but the short bursts of speed to get him in and out of range seemed methodical. Deliberate. It was probably a smart idea, Cisco thought to himself. The amount of calories Barry burned through in just a few minutes’ time wasn’t exactly conducive to prolonged fighting.

“There’s your opening. End him, Allen.”

“Wait, what?!”

“Chill, it’s a figure of speech, Cisco,” Barry chimed in over the comms.

 _Oh, well if it was_ onl _y a figure of speech_ , Cisco rolled his eyes.

And then Barry was a blur of motion, landing blows so quickly that Cisco couldn’t keep track anymore. It was over in a matter of seconds, Quickshot blinking, then letting out a cry, then collapsing in a heap as his body finally began to process the damage done to it. It was incredible to watch, as well as a stark reminder of just how much havoc Barry could wreak when he felt like it (which, Cisco knew was a once in a blue moon occurrence, but still).

“You hit all the nerve clusters I showed you?” Harry asked once Barry had sauntered back over to the monitors.

He nodded.

“Forgetting something?” Harry raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Troy, who was passed out on the ground now.

“Oh!” Barry perked up. “Right.”

He made a show of stretching out his back, then furrowed his brow as his expression became more stern.

“Gimme a sec,” he said as he held up a finger.

And that was when two things happened almost simultaneously: Barry dashed off toward the prone form behind him and Cisco heard a sickening crack.

When he blinked, Barry was back in front of him, shaking his wrist out but looking generally pleased with himself.

And then Cisco’s brain finally came back online.

“What – what did you just do?!”

Barry shrugged. “He had it coming.”

“So what?! I don’t like the guy either, but you can’t just – I don’t know, go breaking people’s faces in just because you don’t like them.”

“It was a fair fight,” Barry said nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just taken out his vendetta against the poor guy in some straight-up dick measuring bullshit.

“Unbelievable,” Cisco said, perhaps putting more irritation in his words than necessary.

A small, vindictive part of him was glad for it, telling his brain that it was only what Troy had deserved, but the sane part had looked on in horror as Barry and Wells had practically gone on a crusade to systematically dismantle the poor guy.

It was bad enough he wasn’t taken seriously by other heroes, but now everyone would know he also needed the Flash to fight his battles for him. Just great.

He stormed off, intending to clear his mind before dealing with the situation any further.

“Whoa, wait!”

Barry zipped in front of him, eyes wide and biting his lower lip in worry in that devastating way that had Cisco caving in .02 seconds flat. He was convinced Barry practiced that in the mirror because there was no one, not even Cait or Harry, who could resist that look.

“Did I do something wrong…?”

Cisco sighed. “Look, man. Your support is appreciated, it really is. But I can take care of myself.”

“But you let him walk all over you!” Barry was outraged, if his shouting was any indication. “It’s not right…”

“This whole superhero thing is new to me. Remember when you first started? It took time for you to finally be all confident-like, and it’s gonna take me a while too. I don’t need a trail of broken bodies behind me, you know…”

Barry winced.

“Sorry…” he bowed his head in a perfect impression of a kicked puppy. “Guess I got carried away… _but_ ,” and he straightened up and looked Cisco directly in the eye, “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. How are new heroes supposed to make it with jerks like him around?”

Again with the puppy eyes. Fuck those stupid puppy eyes. Ballads could be written about them, Cisco was sure. And he was positive that Barry’s actual power was mind control or hypnosis or something. The speed was only a secondary skill.

“Fine,” Cisco grumbled. “I guess if you had to pick someone to go off the deep end on, he wasn’t the worst choice.”

Barry beamed.

“Just, promise me you’ll tone it down next time?”

“You got it.”

“Oh, and you have to tell Harry to back off, too.”

“What?! Why me?!”

“Because _you_ created this mess when you kept tripping Troy in the field today, don’t think I didn’t notice,” he thrust an accusatory finger at Barry. “Now you have to clean up after yourself.”

“ _Cisco_ ,” Barry whined. “You have no idea how terrifying Wells is.”

Actually, he did.

“Can’t we do this together?” Barry coaxed.

Nope. He closed his eyes and looked away. Was that how it worked? Eye contact? All Cisco knew was if he looked in those eyes, he would be a goner.

“No can do. You’re on your own on this one.”

He shot a gentle vibrational blast at Barry’s side.

“Watch it, Vibe.”

Cisco jumped when he felt a jolt of electricity where Barry poked him.

And they bickered all the way back inside as Harry rolled his eyes in the distance.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you like


End file.
